When will Bernie release the transcripts from his 1988 Soviet Union 'honeymoon?'

[notadmblnd]

89. It's all so sordid. NOT!

Well if you really want to know about his trip- you might like to read his book on it: "Outsider in the House"

The following excerpt is from the article I linked to, not his book.

Sanders had earned his invitation to the celebration because he was a loud critic of President Ronald Reagan's Central American policies. Burlington in the 1980s was a hotbed of opposition to the administration's efforts to undermine the Sandinista government by financing Contra fighters, based in nearby Honduras. Reagan claimed the Sandinistas were communists and terrorists.

At a news conference that he and European socialists held in Managua the day of the celebration, Sanders repeated his criticism: "The real issue is a very simple one. Does the government of the United States of America have the unilateral right to destroy the government of Nicaragua because the president of the United States and some members of Congress disagree with the Sandinistas?"

During his visit, largely financed by the Sandinista government — Sanders paid his airfare — Sanders met with President Ortega and other officials. He sat down with the editor of an opposition newspaper, who complained of government censorship. And he walked through Managua's slums, occasionally asking residents about the impact of the 1979 revolution on their lives.

When he returned to Burlington, a group of reporters came to the airport to meet Sanders, who summed up his impressions. "These are people who suffered for 45 years under a terrible dictatorship," he said, "and they're fighting back, and they're trying to build a society where people can live decently." He spoke of "intelligent" Sandinista leaders who had been tortured by the previous regime, and of efforts to build hospitals and schools.

http://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/sanders-siempre-what-bernie-learned-in-nicaragua/Content?oid=2948191